Thursday, November 17, 2011

Review: The Bronze and the Brimstone

What could go wrong in the 14th-centuryfor three time-traveling teens?How about – EVERYTHING!

Hansum, Shamira and Lincoln, three teens from the 24th-century, are trapped in 14th-century Verona, Italy. They’ve survived many deadly experiences by keeping their wits about them and by introducing futuristic technology into the past. Principal among these inventions is the telescope, which brought them to the attention to the rich and powerful.

But standing out can get you into unexpected and dangerous situations. The nobles of Verona now believe Hansum is a savant, a genius inventor, especially after he brings them plans for advanced cannons and black powder. Being the center of attention is great, but the potential for trouble is now exponentially greater because people are watching Hansum’s every move.

Meanwhile, artistic genius Shamira has fallen for a Florentine artist with bloody and disasterous consequences. Lincoln, considered an incompetent back home in the 24th-century, has blossomed – at least until he’s shot in the head with an arrow. And Hansum, after secretly marrying his new master’s beautiful daughter, Guilietta, is offered the hand in marriage of lady Beatrice, daughter of the ruler of Verona. To refuse could mean calamity for all the teens.

Amazingly, none of this is their biggest challenge. Because a rash illness is spreading across Verona – and it is threatening to consume everyone.

Do they have a future in this past?

About Lory Kaufman

“I write Post-Dystopian fiction. After society’s collapse, which is imagined in so many great dystopian stories, humans will either fade into history, with the dinosaurs, or, if it learns the right lessons, society will go on to construct a civilization to last tens of thousands of years. History Camp stories are the exciting adventures of young people doing the latter.” -Lory KaufmanOn the artistic side of Lory’s career, he’s written, acted and directed children’s theatre and musical theatre. He enjoys art, especially sculpture. He loves science fiction and historical fiction and he has been deeply involved in the green movement all across North America. All this shows through when you read his work. Lory has three grown children and works and lives in Kingston, Canada.

Review:Part One: The first book was kind of boring. Its mostly a recap of what happened in the last book. He is just going over some basic information. Of course an unexpected little surprise happens and the Podesta wants more out of Hansum. But that's just the basics. Nothing much is happening. The first book is only about 50 pages, and barely anything important (at least to me) happens in these 50 pages.

Part Two: This book got a bit more interesting. It was faster paced and I was able to pay attention and enjoy it a whole bunch more than the first book. There was so much going on in this section that it was hard to keep up, plus the names were confusing and similar, so I often got the characters confused. Hansum was with the Podesta and well.. lets just say, the Podesta is very two-faced. I lost all my respect for the Podesta when he did the things he did. This section of the book was filled with lies, trickery, and things blowing up. :)

Part Three: This section just summed things up. Tied up loose ends, and had a bit of drama mixed in. The little action that did happen kept me on my toes, and cause a bit of emotions in me. The Black Plague had come earlier than expected, and the outcome is quite sad. A crazy master, a money hungry priest, and a little too much to drink do not add up to a good combination, you'll figure out the reason behind that if you read the book!! I was very disappointed in the ending, it could have came with a little more bang to it. It was just like *insert non-spoiler ending here* THE END! I seriously stared at the book for a few minutes and was like "That's is? Really?!"

I would recommend this book to people who like time-travel books and the olden days. This book was much better than the first, and the third book is coming out soon. I give this book a 31 out of 51 Tacos! Thank you to Lory Kaufman for asking me to be apart of this book tour and I hope your next book gets better!~~Sam :)